advice needed

[jilldw]

Hello,
I used to use an SLR about 20 years ago, but when I had kids I started using a point and shoot. Now, I want to go back to a better camera but I have forgotten all I know. I'm looking for a camera that I can grow into...basically starting with auto functions and then relearning how to use manual settings. My price point isn't that high however. So far I'm looking at

Canon DSLR EOS T6 2Lens Kit Bundle 18-55mm IS Lens, 75-300mm Zoom Lens
Nikon D3500 Bundle with Bag with similar lenses
or a Pentax K70 with an 18-55mm lens.

My SLR was a Pentax and my son has the above Pentax. I do have some legacy lenses that I could potentially use with this camera but my understanding with this camera is that maybe I can't use an auto aperture with them? We tried using a legacy lens with my sons camera and we were about 5 sub menus deep just to enable the camera to do that. He's a teenager and just learning so he didn't have the patience for that yet. The other selling point of the Pentax is that the screen does flip inwards so on dark rides etc. I am not disturbing other people with my screen.

The Pentax is a couple hundred more expensive, but is it worth it if I have lenses I can use?

I throw myself on your mercy for advice!
Thanks

 

[havoc315]

The downside of Pentax is that it might leave the camera market at any moment. They are the only camera maker that hasn't started the transition to mirrorless, their market share is down to nearly nothing.
So it's not very future-proof. But, if you just want to buy a body and use it for another 10+ years, you don't have to worry about future proofing.

 

[jilldw]

I hadn't thought of future proofing, but I think I'm ok in looking at this as a 10 year investment. Thanks for pointing that out. Outside of that issue are they comparable enough do you think?

 

[KVH]

Pentax will be most bang for the buck. Nikon is newer and a good all-round choice. The best informed choice? Read their reviews on DPreview. I know what Havoc is saying but the K70 might be the best choice here.

 

[jilldw]

Thanks, I just read the reviews on DPreview and I'm leaning towards the K70 I think. Thanks for the advice!

 

[havoc315]

Thanks, I just read the reviews on DPreview and I'm leaning towards the K70 I think. Thanks for the advice!

If you want an aps-c dSLR, not much downside for the present to the Pentax. Honestly, Canon/Nikon/Pentax are all similar along that product segment, with slightly different pros and cons.

The issue is that everyone else is starting to speed up the transition to mirrorless. Pentax is the only brand not doing so. I honestly doubt aps-c dSLRs will even be on the market in another 3-4 years. The current crop is nearly the last round of them.

 

[jilldw]

Thanks for the info! There is honestly so much these days to learn and think about with cameras. I'll have to do some major learning about mirrorless as that is very new to me. Being with a point and shoot for the last 15 years these are things I really didn't pay much attention to. Now it's like learning everything for the first time!

 

[cobright]

Thanks for the info! There is honestly so much these days to learn and think about with cameras. I'll have to do some major learning about mirrorless as that is very new to me.

I honestly thought I would be one of those curmudgeons holding desperately onto my old film process cameras, and that didn't take too long for me to shake. Then it was mirrorless, I humbugged that too and now that's mostly what I carry in the parks. Now that full frame mirrorless is getting to be a thing, it's really just a matter of time.

Going into it cold, out of the three systems you listed, I think the availability of great value 2nd hand glass for canon would make it the ecosystem of choice for me.